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Joe Shaffer and his wife, Charlotte, pose for this picture taken on a Caribbean cruise in 2005. (Submitted photo) |
If a sport involved a ball, Joe Shaffer liked watching it.
In his younger days, Joe did more than just watch the ball. The left-handed hurler known as “Lefty” pitched for Hagerstown High School until his graduation in 1934.
During his senior year, Joe’s team played the University of Maryland’s freshman team, with Joe pitching, and were headed for a win until the last inning. Joe was offered a scholarship, which he turned down, a decision he later regretted, said his wife, Charlotte.
He played in local leagues until he was picked up by a Detroit Tigers farm team in Pennsylvania. Joe had a brief call-up to the big leagues and remembered beating the New York Yankees 1-0 and seeing Babe Ruth, friend Jim Lobley said.
Joe quit after about a year to marry his first wife, Jane, in 1937. They had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.
He was instrumental in starting Federal Little League and coached American and Federal Little League teams for 15 years.
Joe was on the Washington County Youth Commission and coached in the Hagerstown Junior Basketball League, serving for two terms as league president. He was inducted into the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Joan Gardner of Newark, Del., remembers her father’s commitment to sports and athletics, although she didn’t share the same gift of athleticism. Instead, he supported her in other ways and was proud that she went to college and was successful professionally.
“For me, he was a great coach on a personal level ... He was very supportive. We stayed close until the end,” said Joan, who moved to Delaware after college.
She said they had a Sunday morning ritual — a 9:30 a.m. phone call.
“It didn’t matter where he was or where I was, even if we were traveling,” Joan said. “We connected, just reviewing the week.”
Joe was employed by Potomac Edison for 10 years, then worked for 35 years as a lineman supervisor for Chesapeake & Potomac, retiring in 1980.
After Jane’s death in 1974, Joe was a widower for 15 years before marrying Charlotte Clemson of Walkersville, Md., who was 22 years younger than he was. They were married 22 years and lived in Arborgate in Hagerstown.
“He always said, ‘It took me 15 years to find you,’” Charlotte said.
Joe had four stepgrandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Charlotte, who had two grown sons, also worked for C&P, but they did not know each other through work. Instead, they met on a bus trip, with travel being a shared interest.
“He was always a young-spirited person,” Charlotte said. “He always gravitated to younger ideas.”
“He used to kid he was retired longer than he worked,” said Charlotte’s son Robert Clemson.
Joe’s interest in travel began at an early age. Both of his parents came to the United States from Hungary, his father arriving in 1902 and his mother in 1909.
In his younger days, Joe did more than just watch the ball. The left-handed hurler known as “Lefty” pitched for Hagerstown High School until his graduation in 1934.
During his senior year, Joe’s team played the University of Maryland’s freshman team, with Joe pitching, and were headed for a win until the last inning. Joe was offered a scholarship, which he turned down, a decision he later regretted, said his wife, Charlotte.
He played in local leagues until he was picked up by a Detroit Tigers farm team in Pennsylvania. Joe had a brief call-up to the big leagues and remembered beating the New York Yankees 1-0 and seeing Babe Ruth, friend Jim Lobley said.
Joe quit after about a year to marry his first wife, Jane, in 1937. They had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.
He was instrumental in starting Federal Little League and coached American and Federal Little League teams for 15 years.
Joe was on the Washington County Youth Commission and coached in the Hagerstown Junior Basketball League, serving for two terms as league president. He was inducted into the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Joan Gardner of Newark, Del., remembers her father’s commitment to sports and athletics, although she didn’t share the same gift of athleticism. Instead, he supported her in other ways and was proud that she went to college and was successful professionally.
“For me, he was a great coach on a personal level ... He was very supportive. We stayed close until the end,” said Joan, who moved to Delaware after college.
She said they had a Sunday morning ritual — a 9:30 a.m. phone call.
“It didn’t matter where he was or where I was, even if we were traveling,” Joan said. “We connected, just reviewing the week.”
Joe was employed by Potomac Edison for 10 years, then worked for 35 years as a lineman supervisor for Chesapeake & Potomac, retiring in 1980.
After Jane’s death in 1974, Joe was a widower for 15 years before marrying Charlotte Clemson of Walkersville, Md., who was 22 years younger than he was. They were married 22 years and lived in Arborgate in Hagerstown.
“He always said, ‘It took me 15 years to find you,’” Charlotte said.
Joe had four stepgrandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Charlotte, who had two grown sons, also worked for C&P, but they did not know each other through work. Instead, they met on a bus trip, with travel being a shared interest.
“He was always a young-spirited person,” Charlotte said. “He always gravitated to younger ideas.”
“He used to kid he was retired longer than he worked,” said Charlotte’s son Robert Clemson.
Joe’s interest in travel began at an early age. Both of his parents came to the United States from Hungary, his father arriving in 1902 and his mother in 1909.
